


Filed Under: Stickler

by dragonshost



Series: Filed Under: Troublemaker [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, LahCy Week (Fairy Tail), Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27933097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonshost/pseuds/dragonshost
Summary: Lahar's path seems to cross with Lucy's a lot, despite being theoretically bound to his desk job.
Relationships: Lucy Heartfilia/Lahar
Series: Filed Under: Troublemaker [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045398
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. Warrior

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Im_ur_Misconception](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_ur_Misconception/gifts).



Mest's friend was a strange one. To be fair, Fairy Tail itself was full of odd ducks, so it wasn't a leap by any means that one of the weirder members would have a close friend who also fit the description. Still, though… Lucy found herself pleasantly surprised by the knowledge. It made the imposing Head Captain of the Rune Knights much more… human.

The file he'd given her had been delivered straight to Erza for a signature. Lucy had nearly lost her life in the attempt as Erza unknowingly knocked down people left and right with a pipe she was carrying. But at least the deed was done.

It sort of shocked Lucy that the Head Captain…. Lahar, wasn't it? It was a bit strange to her that he hadn't stuck around to say hello to Mest at all. If she had been in his shoes, she would have wanted to see how the Direct Line mage was doing. Especially after quitting his job… and revealing his status as double spy.

…Okay now that she thought about it, it was actually sort of alarming to think that someone in such a high position had been willing to overlook that particular crime. Even if it had been committed by a friend, it was still espionage? No member of Fairy Tail had more than a passing understanding of the law, but Lucy was fairly sure that traitors were generally frowned upon. It didn't quite jive with her mental image of Lahar up until that point.

Her earliest memory of the man was when he'd taken Jellal into custody, after the fight against the Oracion Seis. She recalled well the cage of runes that he'd trapped them in as he hauled away Richard, as well as Erza's… whatever Jellal was to Erza. A precious person. Lahar had trapped them in a cage of runes and they were forced to watch as Erza's heart broke right in front of them. Lucy had harbored resentment in her heart towards the implacable Rune Knight Captain and his stone-cold face for that.

But then… he'd been kind to her. Months ago, when she'd interviewed him in Jason's place for Sorcerer Weekly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he'd been behind Gajeel and Levy greeting her as she exited his office. There was no doubt in her mind that it was fully contrived on his part. It had really struck her, once again, that seven years was a long time. And the Rune Knight Captain, now Head Captain, had changed along with the rest of Lucy's world. It had been worth inflicting a little bit of food poisoning onto Jason to get the interview. She'd wanted to face Lahar herself – face the person that had cut down a strong warrior like Erza with only a few words. Lucy had been planned to confront him about that day, see what he had to say for himself. It was a stupid idea, driven by her own heartbreak, but she'd gone through with it anyway.

Only…

She'd seen something in him, even before her reunion with Gajeel and Levy. Genuine mourning. A heartbreak reflected in his eyes that echoed her own. The friend he had lost had been dear to him, even if Lucy now knew that the man in question was still very much alive. But that, too, reminded her of a friend of her own, still alive but missing from her side. Lucy had lost her will to confront him at that point. Had felt it shrivel up to nothing and die inside of her when he told her he was sorry for her loss.

Compared to both of those times, today he'd been much more relaxed. It had been surprising to hear that he knew of her well. Given the hijinks her and her team had gotten up to, that was mildly terrifying to be told. And to hear him joke about himself! That had blown her mind.

A surprising individual all around.

If her name did cross his desk in the future, she hoped it would be for glad tidings and not because her team had accidentally made a new inland sea or something. Even if he seemed to be much less of a stickler for the rules compared to what he was once, it would be safer for Lucy to remain out of his direct line of sight.

But odder still… she almost found herself wanting to place herself there anyway. Just to see how he'd react.

_'Head Captain Lahar… I look forward to meeting you again.'_


	2. Quarantine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm so late with the second chapter. Health things happened, along with a bunch of other stuff. I will try to get the rest of this fic up as soon as possible.
> 
> Side note, Lieutenant Corsan did appear in Troublemaker. I have plans for him for another fic, so he's gotten a lot more development since then, haha.

Lucy stared down the man before her, unable and unwilling to accept the answer she’d just been given. “I was told at the front desk that all Fairy Tail related paperwork was supposed to come here. Then, after getting lost for a half hour, now that I’ve finally found this place, I can’t even see who I’m supposed to?”

Her opponent in this standoff refused to budge one iota, seemingly not finding the blonde and her paperwork stack all that threatening. “Be that as it may, I’m afraid that you can’t go in there. Head Captain Lahar isn’t in.”

Lucy was more than a little dismayed to find that the person she was looking for wasn’t actually there. Mostly, this was because the trip all the way to Era hadn’t been a short one, and the papers she was delivering on behalf of her new guild master were neither light nor of a small quantity. She was already deeply regretting her urge to volunteer to do this favor for Erza. Arms aching and feeling a strong under-eye twitch coming on, Lucy did her best to remain calm with the assistant barricading her way. “If he isn’t in, then why did he tell the receptionist to send the guild representative to his office instead of delivering the paperwork themselves?” she asked him through gritted teeth. Screw every kind thing she’d previously thought about Lahar. She took it all back. What kind of jerk called for a meeting and then didn’t even bother to show up for it? Time to revise her opinion once again of the man.

The man sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand. “I don’t know what to tell you, Miss Heartfilia. But the Head Captain really is out today.” He gestured to his desk. “You may leave the paperwork with me, if you like. I’ll make sure he gets it once he’s been released from quarantine.”

…Wait, what? “ _Quarantine?_ ” she questioned. “He was fine when I saw him two days ago! …Actually, before that, I don’t think I mentioned my name to you?”

Another sigh wracked the man’s body. “Unfortunately, the names and faces of Fairy Tail’s members are well-known to me.” Deep pain shone in his eyes. “My six year old daughter is a fan.”

“Oh.” That was kind of nice to hear, even though the assistant didn’t seem to share his daughter’s opinion of her favorite guild. “Okay, but can we go back to the quarantine bit? Am I in danger of catching anything…” Lucy peered at the name plaque on the desk. “…Lieutenant Corsan?”

“Probably not,” he informed her. “It doesn’t seem like something communicable. At least, not as far as I could tell when I forced him to stop working and go home yesterday.”

Ah, so her initial impression of him as a workaholic was spot-on. Gajeel and Levy had insinuated as much, too. A stickler for the rules, and a workaholic on top of it… he sounded like a nightmare to work with. Lucy didn’t envy Lieutenant Corsan in the slightest.

Unaware of the bent of Lucy’s internal monologue, Corsan continued, “I’m more concerned that he picked up something at Fairy Tail, honestly. As long as I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him that sick before. His fever especially was horrible.”

Lucy shrugged slightly, the paperwork stack in her arms swaying precariously at the movement and striking icy fear into her very soul. After the stack steadied and the panic abated, she commented, “No one at Fairy Tail is sick, so I doubt that.”

The Rune Knight considered her words but made no move to relieve her of the paperwork. “Odd. Did he do anything out of the ordinary while he was there?”

Yes, Lahar’s behavior had been more than a little strange. He’d come to visit Fairy Tail on his day off, for one. Then didn’t do anything about a traitor. That was more than a bit out of the ordinary as far as her read on the Head Captain went. But Lucy wasn’t about to mention any of that to the Lieutenant. There was a significant chance he was as much of a stickler as his boss wa–

…Wait a minute. It wasn’t his… bending… of the rules that made him sick, was it? Who does that even happen to? Who on Earthland would get a fever just because they weren’t one hundred percent law abiding?

Lucy had the rather unpleasant sneaking suspicion that Lahar was, indeed, just such a person.

“I’m just… gonna leave these here, then… and leave,” Lucy muttered, plopping the paperwork onto the Lieutenant’s desk with ill-concealed relief. “I’ll just chalk all this up to a miscommunication and leave it at that.”

Her hopes of escaping with dignity intact were dashed swiftly. “Wait. You’ll have to reschedule. The Head Captain wanted to discuss some new policies regarding the guilds with Fairy Tail in particular.”

Hmm. That was not a good sign. But maybe that was how things were being done now with Era’s new structure and leadership.

“I will let our guild master know,” Lucy said with a barely covered up wheeze. “Uh… out of curiosity, is he meeting personally with _all_ of the guilds, or…”

A tight smile spread across Corsan’s face. “Just Fairy Tail. He specifically requested that all issues regarding your guild be referred directly to him.”

Although not completely unwarranted, that news did not bode well for Fairy Tail. It was possible that it was just so he could cover for Mest, but Lucy somehow doubted that. That personal visit to Fairy Tail just to deliver the paperwork was now being shown in a new light, and not nearly as altruistic a one as Lahar had made it out to be to Lucy.

“Gotcha. Well… have a nice day.”

“You, too, Miss Heartfilia.”

With that, Lucy departed the office and the building as quickly as she was able to. It was best not to give them a reason to question her further. Best not to risk anything like that.

All the same, Lucy did hope that Lahar recovered soon. As bad as it was to have the Head Captain of the Rune Knights breathing down Fairy Tail’s neck, at least it was someone who had something to lose if Fairy Tail went down.

Small comfort, but she would take it.


End file.
